"To insinuate that I was giving up on the season is completely ridiculous," Shanahan told ESPN.com's Dan Graziano on Monday. "We've got five NFC East games still on the schedule. Anytime you have division games, you have a great chance."

Here's what Shanahan said Sunday: "When you lose a game like that, now you're playing to see who obviously is going to be on your football team for years to come. Now, we have a chance to evaluate players and see where we're at. Obviously, we're not out of it statistically. Now we find out what kind of character we have and how guys keep on fighting throughout the rest of the season."

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Shanahan said he meant that he had a chance to see how his players fought through adversity. We think he was just showing his frustration. He called the game against the Carolina Panthers a "must win." They lost.

"Shanahan shook hands with Ron Rivera, walked off the field with a scowl while staring around the stadium. Spoke to no one," Rich Campbell of The Washington Times wrote of the postgame scene.

This is Shanahan's third season in Washington. He believed this team was better than it was. He let his exasperation show publicly, and now he wants to take it back.